Chapter 2

I sat down at the table, where the flock was already stuffing their faces with the cheeseburgers Apollo had made. "So," I said, trying to make some kind of conversation with them. "What do you guys do? Besides save the world, I mean."

Max looked up from her third cheeseburger. "Oh, not much. You know the drill. Run from society, and when society catches you, punch it in the face. Oh, and have weddings for talking dogs. Normal stuff like that.

I choked on the tea I was drinking. " Weddings for talking dogs? Are you serious?" She laughed, taking a huge bite of her cheeseburger.

"Yep. Our dog, Total. He got married to a foxy alaskan malamute named Akila."

"Wait, what? Both of them can talk? And where are they?"

It was Fang's turn to fill me in now. "Total is in town. I really don't know what he's doing, but he's there, and Akila is with her owner, Bridget. Unfortunately, Akila can't talk, but Total can."

Angel huffed indignantly. "He's not that annoying. He's just... curious, that's all!"

"Yeah," Iggy said, sarcasm dripping fro his voice. "and what's that they say? 'Curiosity killed the bird kid.'" I stifled a laugh, and he grinned. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Iggy. And you are...?" He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"I'm Artemis. Nice to meet you." I turned to the rest of them. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Okay, so I know you didn't call us here to stuff our faces, so what's the deal?" Iggy leaned back in his chair, seemingly done with his food.

I put my elbows on the table, entwining my fingers and resting my chin on them. "Well, just a few days ago, we had some... strange visitors here. They all wore white. I don't really know what they wanted, but they kept calling us 'family experiment number 4'. They tried... They tried to take Kyle, the youngest boy."

Max and Fang looked at each other raising their eyebrows. They definitely knew something I didn't. "Whitecoats," they said in unison, with a grim tone that told me they'd had more than a few run ins with these guys.

"What are whitecoats? Like scientists?" Iggy tapped the table impatiently.

"Yeah. Crazy mad evil genius scientists with major issues. Here's a suggestion; DON'T LET THEM IN NEXT TIME." Everyone nodded, and Max started into her burger again.

It was about nine thirty, and Angel was yawning. I offered them to stay the night, and Max scowled, opening her mouth to object, but Fang cut her off with a scowl. He then turned to me, smiling. "We'd love to stay here, if you have the room."

"Sure," I replied. "The rooms are big. Fang and Iggy, you can stay in the room with Apollo, and Gazzy can stay with Kyle. Max, you can stay in my room, and Nudge and Angel can stay with Sierra." I guided them to their respective rooms, and afterwards I instructed the others to get to bed. When everyone was gone, I walked down the hallway to the bathroom. I raised my fist to knock, but it froze in midair. Fang and Max were arguing.

"Max, it's one night. It's not going to hurt us."

"Right. Fang, WHITECOATS came here. What if they come again. I can't really save the world if I'm locked in a tiny plastic dog cage!" I heard a muffled sob, and bodies shifting. Fang was probably comforting her now.

"Shh. I know. I don't want to go back either, but I trust these people. One night. Just one night, and then we'll leave."

Max sniffed. "Okay. One night, but we leave tomorrow. Sound okay?"

"Yeah. Max, I love you. I wouldn't let anything happen to you." There was a hand on the doorknob, and I sprinted into the living room, plopping myself on the couch, pretending I hadn't heard them and telling myself that what they had said hadn't disturbed me. Max seemed like a tough girl. Anything that could make her cry was enough to scare the crap out of me.

The light in the hallway shut off, and I turned on the television, wincing at how loud it sounded in the deadly quiet house. Nickelodeon was still on, and I just needed something to look at, so I just stared absentmindedly at the bright colors, trying not to listen to the annoying voices of Spongebob and the rest of them.

I was so zoned out that I barely heard the quiet shuffling of footsteps. Iggy came to a stop next to the TV, and I looked up at him, suddenly brought back from my trance, startled by his presence.

I saw him smile by the light of the TV. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your secret obsession." HE walked towards me and I was suddenly aware of every blond strand of hair out of place on his forehead, and his perfectly defined muscles under his tight, light blue shirt. He sat down next to me, and I wanted to tell him everything.

But I don't think that's a good idea, so I stick to the basics. "When I'm irritated, I turn it on. Don't know how, but it helps me think."

He touched my face, just light, butterfly like fingers brushing over my tight features. He scowled. "You feel nervous. Why? Is it... me?" I wanted to tell him that it probably was, but to be honest I really didn't know.

"I'm not nervous. I'm just tired. I can't sleep."

"Are you going to sleep here? Because I can leave." He made a move to get up, but, almost on an impulse, I grabbed his arm.

"No. Stay here. I like company." He smirked and sat back down. We sat there in content silence, for a while, just enjoying each other's company. After about an hour, my eyelids started to feel heavy, and I gave into sleep, letting it carry me away...

A/N: Okay so I know it took me FOREVER to upload this next chapter, but my teachers decided to give me a crapload of projects the last couple weeks of school and I was barely keeping up with those. Luckily, I'm out now, and I'll have more time to devote to my stories (GOD that makes me sound like a nerd :/) but yeah, it's true. Hope you enjoyed it, please REVIEW! You see that little button at the bottom of your screen. It's calling you.

Love, Eva Cormac 3